Emma Morano — the world's oldest living person and the last known person to have lived in the 1800s — has died at her home in Italy, the Associated Press reports. She was 117.

Morano — born November 21, 1899 in Italy's Piedmont region — died Saturday at her home in Verbania, according to the AP. Morano's life spanned three centuries and two world wars, Reuters notes — but her long life was not always a happy one. After her first love died in World War I, a different man forced her into an abusive marriage.

"He told me, 'Either you agree to marry me or I will kill you,'" Morano said. "I was 26 years old. I got married."

In 1938, Morano separated from her husband and remained single the rest of her life — something she believed added to her longevity.

"I didn't want to be dominated by anyone," Morano told the New York Times when she was 115.

She also adhered to a unique diet of two raw eggs and one cooked egg per day and had good genes: The eldest of eight children, Morano had a sister live to 102 and another to nearly 100. Morano worked in a factory until she was 65, according to Reuters .

Carlo Bava, Morano's doctor for decades, told the AP he last visited with the 117-year-old on Friday and "she thanked me and held my hand" as she usually did.